Star Wars: Clone Wars season one

Hey everybody,
I’m pleased to report that the final essay of my course has been submitted, a 3000-word beast that has taken me the best part of two weeks to hash together, and as a result: I have four month off! Very excited by this. I’m planning to get lots of exciting stuff done, and in particular I’m hoping to get a lot more done on this here blog – foremost, getting back into writing some short stories! I started doing something a couple of months back now, and moving forward with that is top of my list.

As a bit of light relief between studying, I’ve been watching the first season of Clone Wars once again, partly because of encountering Cham Syndulla in Lords of the Sith and feeling like I should try to reconnect with this stuff.

I have to say, all of this stuff is pretty hit and miss for me. I know it’s primarily a kid’s show and all, but it just goes too weird or whatever, and I find it quite hard to watch. While it hasn’t improved with age, I will admit that some of these episodes do bring back some fond memories for me. I’m hardly that young, of course, but it harkens back to a time when we were getting a lot of new stuff that was supported in games like Star Wars Miniatures and the RPG.

The series was launched with a movie that was just awful. The Jedi are keen to gain control of hyperlanes in the Outer Rim, so when Jabba the Hutt asks for the Republic’s help in rescuing his son, they leap to the chance. Turns out the Separatists have kidnapped Jabba’s offspring, and planned to frame the Jedi for it. When the Jedi manage to rescue the little Huttlet, the Separatists modify the plan and think to destroy the Jedi and blame the murder on them. Needless to say, good triumphs in the end…

First of all – Jabba has a child. Secondly – that child is called “Rotta”. Urgh. There are some nice moments in this, but by and large it’s just a cringefest – indeed, I’d forgotten just how bad it was until I watched it again. The worst of these is Ahsoka Tano, the padawan assigned to Anakin. I actually feel bad for hating on her, because she was clearly conceived as a role model for female fans where Padme wouldn’t cut it. The problem is, she is so transparently a Mary Sue character that it really is quite painful to watch at times.

Some of the worst moments in this regard actually come from the series, however. There are at least two moments that I recall vividly where Ahsoka, who is apparently young even for a padawan, tells established Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, and Jedi Knight Aayla Secura, that she knows better than them, and is proven right. It’s not so much that Ahsoka is right in these instances, but that the more senior members of the Jedi Order are dumbed down by comparison. Doesn’t help that Luminara is one of my favourite Jedi, of course, but it really ticks me off that Ahsoka is shown to be so super-wise and stuff. I also hate the fact she’s made out to be the inventor of the Marg Sabl manoeuvre, which tactical genius Thrawn uses in the opening of Heir to the Empire. Seriously – if she’s this good, why the hell isn’t she on the Jedi Council, already?

The battledroids are just annoying, and Jar Jar’s schtick makes me want to leave the room, but as I said above, there are also some good bits in here, too.

I really like the character design we have for both Anakin and Obi-Wan. Anakin’s is of course derivative of Darth Vader’s suit but, in a galaxy where nothing can happen without first being foreshadowed, it’s still a cool-looking design. Obi-Wan’s is a nice amalgam of Jedi robes and Clone Trooper armour, one that seems especially at home on a general in the field. Plo Koon has a similar look in his appearance, and it works really well.

There are a lot of arcs in the first season, mainly three-part, and of these, the Ryloth one (episodes 19-21) is probably my favourite. It does suffer a little too much from the “Mace Windu is a badass” syndrome that a lot of the prequel material has, but it’s overall pretty good.

In addition, there are three stand-out episodes that I have to mention. First is Lair of Grievous, episode 10, which follows Kit Fisto and his former padawan Nahdar Vebb as they try to track the escaped Nute Gunray (the Viceroy escaped partly thanks to Ahsoka, who was busy acting like she’s the shit again). Nahdar has something of a chip on his shoulder from the off, it seems, and (spoiler alert) it comes as no surprise when his over-confidence leads to his demise. The Jedi find themselves in the lair of General Grievous, and I found it interesting to see how he keeps spare parts and stuff around – it was one of those character moments where seeing behind the curtain adds to the portrayal rather than detracts.

The Hidden Enemy, episode 16, is a prequel to the movie and shows Anakin and Obi-Wan attempting to lift the siege of the crystal-planet Christophsis. The episode has some interesting ideas in it, such as the clones showing a bit too much independent thought – one clone turns traitor, informing the droid army of the Jedi’s plan because he believes the clones are enslaved by the Jedi. While I don’t entirely buy that – clones otherwise have a strong bond to their brothers, and I wouldn’t have thought they’d willingly risk their brethren like that, but anyway. It’s also good to see Rex and Cody work together, something of a theme for the series.

I’m not a huge fan of Asajj Ventress – I liked her when she was introduced in the comics, but I feel she’s been over-exposed and, almost by necessity, this has led to her coming across as incompetent. It’s like Boba Fett syndrome – the character is interesting, so we see loads of him/her, but because they can never be shown to fulfill their potential, they’re forever shown being thwarted to some degree. In the cartoon series, Asajj is supposed to be this top-level assassin, but it’s even pointed out by Darth Sidious at one point how she has failed many times. Well, at any rate, this has lead to an interesting relationship with Obi-Wan, where the two frequently find themselves together on the battlefield, and it’s almost like some twisted kind of relationship the two have. It can be fun, anyway!

The season finale, Hostage Crisis, is one of my absolute favourites. We’re introduced to the Duros bounty hunter Cad Bane as a group of mercenaries infiltrates the Senate and holds a number of high-ranking officials hostage. I’m one of these who likes the political aspects of Star Wars, so I’ve always felt right at home in the senate scenes. This episode also has a strong link with the movie, as the mercenaries are trying to free Ziro the Hutt, Jabba’s uncle who had aided the Separatists in their kidnap of Jabba’s son. I thought the feel of the episode was tremendous, and it felt like something of an event when I first saw it, introducing someone who would go on to become a significant player in the canon.

Overall, the series has some good bits, but some godawful bits as well. I do think it’s worth investigating if you haven’t already done so, as some of these good bits do kinda mitigate the bad! While I have all six seasons on DVD, I’ve only actually watched the first two all the way through (I think, I may have started 3…) but I’m intending to watch all of them this summer, and then make my merry way on to the Rebels cartoon as well. Look forward to that, then! Some of these episodes won’t be a surprise to me as I did used to follow all Star Wars news quite religiously, but I’m still interested to see the totality of what I’ve missed here. What better way to spend my summer vacation, right?!

I think, if I’m going to do this review thing properly, it’s only right to rank these episodes, so I’d say my top three episodes from the series are:

1. Hostage Crisis
2. The Hidden Enemy
3. Lair of Grievous

But what about you guys? Did you love the cartoon, or hate it? Let me know in the comments, and stay tuned for season two, which will be coming up within the next month or so (hopefully)!